An Altered Perspective
by kel.kel.153
Summary: -"Don't take this the wrong way Hermione; you're a brilliant witch and a wonderful person, but sometimes, you can be a real prat."  -"What?"  Hermione is upset at Harry for ordering around Kreacher. Ron tries to reason with her. Oneshot. HBP compliant


An Altered Perspective

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All right?**

"I can't _believe _him! How could Harry –really! I thought he'd know better!" Hermione fumed, viciously dotting an 'i' on her parchment. "And he doesn't even admit that it's wrong!"

"Hermione, calm down, it's just – " said Ron, not bothering to look up from his own essay.

"I will not calm down, Ronald Weasley!" she snapped. "It's abuse!"

"No," he rolled his eyes, "It's only you who -"

"Because the rest of you don't think there's anything wrong with the enslavement of house-elves!" The few curious Gryffindors listening to their conversation abruptly moved away at the mention of house-elves.

"Hermione," he turned towards her, raising a hand to stop her upcoming verbal diatribe, "Hermione! Look," he placed both hands on her shoulders and shook hard, "Don't take this the wrong way or anything; you're a brilliant witch, a kind and caring friend, and a wonderful person, but sometimes, you can be a real prat."

"What?"

"It's just…" he looked around the common room, "the house elf thing. It's only you who thinks there's something fundamentally wrong with it. But you still have to shove it up our faces every chance you get, please, just quit it, will you?

"_Beg_ your pardon, Mr. Tact, but -"

"No, honestly! It's not that what you think is _wrong_, but –but you have to look at it from Harry's perspective," he insisted, evidently exasperated, "Besides, you're _Hermione_."

"And what's that supposed to be mean?" she retorted.

"You're _Hermione Granger_. Despite being muggleborn, you're still the brightest witch of your age, and you would totally kick our asses in…well, anything. You pride yourself on being a good person, on doing what's right, and looking at things from an unbiased, logical point of view."

"Why –how do you know all this? Have you actually been listening to what I've been saying for the last six years?"

The tips of Ron's ears reddened, and he looked away before plowing on, "Yet your greatest power is also your greatest weakness."

"_What?_"

"I mean, um, well, you're smart and logical and all that, just…er, you don't think about other people's feelings when you try to prove your point. You forget that what's rationally right isn't always the right thing in real life."

"I very well _do_ consider others, thank you very much! In fact, it's _you_ who should be –"

"That's what I'm _trying_ to do here, Hermione!" he snapped back, effectively silencing her. "Just try to look at it from Harry's perspective."

"His perspective? I am doing that too!"

Ron sighed, "No…you're not. Not fully. Just forget about what Harry ordered Kreacher and Dobby to do for a minute, okay? Now remember that _Harry_ didn't want Kreacher in the first place, only he had to to help the Order."

"And you have to admit, Kreacher's a right nasty little git," he added thoughtfully.

"Ron! See, that's exactly the type of thinking that –" she began furiously.

"Hermione, why bother pretending that he's a wonderful being? He betrayed Sirius! Which ended up in Sirius getting _killed_!"

"He's an old elf, him helping Bellatrix and the Malfoys was the only thing he knew!" she hissed back.

"Harry's perspective, remember? You're Hermione, he's Harry _freakin'_ Potter! You grew up with loving parents and friends, he had none of that. The closest thing he had to a father was Sirius, who just _died_ last year because of Kreacher's disloyalty!"

"I –I didn't think _that _would –" she admitted quietly.

"So the person he most looked up to, who he loved, who he would have –and did risk his life for was killed because of a treacherous elf. Do you think he would be very fond of Kreacher afterwards?

"And don't you dare say that Kreacher's old age and upbringing affected him; he was fully aware of what he was doing!" Ron's wild arm gestures knocked over the inkwell

"You're right," she confessed, after hastily jabbing her wand at the growing mess, "I must have overreacted."

"Overreacted?" he scoffed, "You're bloody pissed at him for ordering _his_ elf to do a bit of surveillance duty!"

Hermione chose to ignore his last comment, and scribbled down the last few sentences in her essay. "You've grown up a lot, Ron."

"What?" it was his turn to be confused, then his expression softened, "You really think so, 'Mione?"

She smiled. "Yes. Just last…term, I would've laughed out loud if you said that to me. Now…it's different. I suppose it's for the best."

"Aww, thanks!" he hid his grin behind a nearby potions book.

"Oh, but Ron?" she added.

"Yes?"

"Don't call me 'Mione," though her voice remained light and casual, there was something in her tone that stopped Ron from arguing.

**A/N: As much as I dislike HG/RW as a pairing, I felt obliged to write this. Hope you enjoyed!**

**Please review! They would totally make my day.**


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